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WHITELIGHTS

Real judged lifts. Zero self-reported numbers. This is what strong actually is.

Verdict

Is a 275 lb bench press good?

Short answer: it depends entirely on your bodyweight, and here is the table that says by how much.

At 82.5–87.5 kg bodyweight, 275 lb is the 47th percentile of judged lifts — intermediate among people who compete.

Intermediate Advanced Elite World-class 0255075100 5080110140170200 kg lifted →
kg

Percentile

29,914 judged bench presss, men, 82.5–87.5 kg

No lift entered. The curve is every judged bench presss in this class — add yours to it.

Not your class?

275 lb is 125 kg. The chart is preloaded with it — change the number to check your own.

What 275 lb means at every bodyweight

The same lift is a different achievement at 60 kg and at 120 kg. This is the whole answer, not one row of it.

Men

BodyweightPercentileBandMedian for the class
up to 52.5 kg 97th World-class 50.0
52.5–57.5 kg 96th World-class 72.5
57.5–62.5 kg 94th Elite 85.0
62.5–67.5 kg 85th Elite 100.0
67.5–72.5 kg 81st Elite 102.5
72.5–77.5 kg 65th Advanced 115.0
77.5–82.5 kg 52nd Advanced 122.5
82.5–87.5 kg 47th Intermediate 125.0
87.5–92.5 kg 35th Intermediate 135.0
92.5–97.5 kg 32nd Intermediate 137.5
97.5–102.5 kg 24th Intermediate 145.0
102.5–107.5 kg 21st Intermediate 150.0
107.5–112.5 kg 18th Novice 155.0
112.5–117.5 kg 20th Novice 155.0
117.5–122.5 kg 15th Novice 162.5
122.5–127.5 kg 16th Novice 165.0
127.5–132.5 kg 18th Novice 161.0
132.5–137.5 kg 15th Novice 165.6
137.5 kg and above 14th Novice 172.5

Women

BodyweightPercentileBandMedian for the class
up to 52.5 kg 99+ World-class 46.5
52.5–57.5 kg 99+ World-class 52.5
57.5–62.5 kg 99+ World-class 55.0
62.5–67.5 kg 99+ World-class 60.0
67.5–72.5 kg 99+ World-class 60.0
72.5–77.5 kg 99+ World-class 62.5
77.5–82.5 kg 99+ World-class 65.0
82.5–87.5 kg 99th World-class 65.0
87.5–92.5 kg 99th World-class 65.0
92.5–97.5 kg 99+ World-class 65.0
97.5–102.5 kg 99th World-class 67.5
102.5–107.5 kg 98th World-class 67.5
107.5–112.5 kg 99th World-class 70.0
112.5–117.5 kg 98th World-class 70.0
117.5–122.5 kg 98th World-class 72.5
122.5–127.5 kg 97th World-class 75.0
127.5–132.5 kg 97th World-class 75.0
137.5 kg and above 95th Elite 80.0

The road from here

LiftPercentileBand
124.747thIntermediate
134.762ndAdvanced
144.775thAdvanced
154.785thElite

Men at 82.5–87.5 kg bodyweight. Percentile gained per 10 kg, so you can see what the next plate is actually worth.

Who these numbers describe. Everyone in this dataset entered a powerlifting competition. They are stronger than the general gym population, so a 50th percentile here is well above an average gym-goer — we would rather tell you that than quietly flatter you. Nobody has ever published a trustworthy random sample of what people lift in commercial gyms; what exists instead is app data that people type in themselves.

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Published by

Amit Sharma

Auckland real-estate agent and marketer. Builds free, sourced data tools.